Finding Your Way
by KuroiHi
Summary: A strange, new Otter is found around Mossflower. A peaceful beast, or is he a vermin in disguise?
1. Meet Blu

Disclaimer: I own everything in this story! -looks around at blank stares- … Well, I do the characters and the (probably nonexistent) plot. Everything else is Brian Jacques.

Okay, so let me give you poor, poor readers a heads up right now. 1. This is my first attempt at fan fiction. 2. I am a 13 year-old who just drank 2 cans of soda, a thing of sugar pills known as Smarties, and some other sugary junk. (A long winded version of saying I'm practically on a sugar high at 11 at night) 3. Uh… While typing the last one I forgot what this one was and on that note, I am VERY forgetful. And therefore will need help (and inspiration) in updating if anyone ends up liking this. Hint hint!

**If you don't want to read that**, basically I'm saying this story will probably suck. So shut up and leave me alone. -is already crashing-

'Thoughts' "Dialogue"

Prolougue: Meet Bluligtnin

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The desolate, lonely landscape of seemingly unending plains and dunes roll on for as far as the eye could see. Which, sadly, was a very short distance due to the rain that hammered the earth, as if beating it for some unknown wrong. The only thing that could be seen, besides the rain, was a single creature, walking due south. Upon closer inspection, one would be able to tell it was an otter, and a very strange one at that.  
He was surprisingly tall, taller than most otters, and because of his almost abnormal-looking height, he looked as if he was going to pass out from lack of food. Yet, as the rain plastered the young otters strange gray-brown, with what looked like blue tattoos covering most of him, one could also notice he was, like most otters, very strong, with good sized muscles for his long arms and legs.  
But what many would find most fascinating about the young beast, were his eyes. Cold, hard, with none of the usual spark that one so young would normally have. It was as if he had already been through many seasons of hardship, although he only looked to be maybe 18 seasons or so.

And so this depressing-looking being trudged on, with nothing on his back but a hooded cloak, and small pack, both of which was thoroughly soaked. He glanced behind him, as if looking for someone following, and had to smirk, just a little. Everywhere around him looked the same, and the only way he knew he was traveling in the right direction were his pawprints, making sure he was going in a straight line.

"Due south, boy, past sand and sea,  
Past the dunes, and grass, and plains,  
Until high above, ye will see,  
Huge trees tower high over thee.

And through that forest ye need go,  
To await his hate-filled eyes.  
There you will have a happy 'Hello!'  
Before a tearful goodbye."

He snorted. "What a bunch o' searat fur. That crazy ol' fox pro'aly told 'im to go due north. Why'm I even trying to follow the hag's prophecy? S'not like I believe it." His usually deep, gruff voice was quiet as he talked to the rain, trying to figure out what he was doing following some 'crazy vixens load of crap'.  
He sighed, more out of exhaustion than confusion, though he was feeling a lot of both, and looked up. He stopped and gasped, sputtering out water as he threw himself at the muddy ground, still staring staight ahead, eyes widening.

A horde, a whole bloody horde of hares (he could tell by the ears) and another very large creature, which he suspected to be a badger, very close to him. Too close for his comfort.

Suddenly he felt himself being half-lifted up by his pack, and turned around to face a very stern-looking grey hare with brown eyes. "I say, sah. Jolly bad form, laying in the mud like that, wot wot!" He winked at the otter before dropping him. "Should try an' look your bally ol' best for the badger lady of Salamanderscone, er, I mean Saladoverstone, or is it…"  
"It's Salamandastron, Greyescut. And who is that there?" The otter was aleady up and trying his best to clean himself up to reclaim his dignity. He glanced at the hare and elderly badger, his eyes seeming to go colder than before.  
At least before the hare cuffed him on the back of the head, eyes narrowed warningly. "Stand to attention, sah! Present thyself to Badger Lady Cina, eh wot!" The old badger easily picked the elder hare up, placing him down beside her. "Really Greyescut, I think your being a little hard on the young man. I'm not all that important now! Honestly, the real Badger Lord is back at the mountain, remember? My time has been over for a while now." Greyescut's ears lowered. "But marm…" She half turned away. "No. I'm going to go and see if the Abbey needs a Badgermum. My time at Salamandastron is over. 'Tis written." "No, no, no, wot! The h'otter! 'E's leaving!"

Sure enough, the young otter was continuing on his journey, pushing his way past the hare in the ranks, glaring and baring his teeth menancingly at any who tried to say anything. "Hm. Bally odd ol' chap, h'ain't 'e?" Greyescut muttered to the former badger lady. "Aye, but don't he look different? Acts more like a vermin than a goodbeast, even looks almost like one."

"Think 'e **is** vermin?"

Cina and Greyescut exchanged glances, before Greyescut found his way though the ranks, grabbed the otter by the shoulder and spun him around. "Say, sah, where'd you say you were from?" Shrugging the hare's paw off, he glared. "Didn't say. An' it ain't none of yore business neither." He said flatly. The hare bristled, ears straightening in dignity. "You are a bally vermin aren't you, y'cheeky little blighter! Can't y'see we're just tryin' t'be friendly?" The otter turned around, heading south again. "Ain't got any friends. I'm not vermin, nor goodbeasts. But if ye don't keep those muddy paws off me, I can turn vermin!"  
If took two younger hares to restrain the now yelling Greyescut. "Cad! Confounded streamwalloper! Come back and face me like a beast!" But the otter merely looked back, called, and continued walking.

"You wouldn't stand a seasons chance in battle against Bluligtnin"

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	2. Reminiscence

I feel bad for not doing this sooner. And that's hard to do considering all that's been happening. I really don't like this chapter, and no matter what I did (from procrastinating to rewriting over and over again) I could not get this to sound good to me. I really dislike this chapter, intensely.

'Thoughts' "Dialogue" F _Flashbacks _F

Chapter 1: Reminiscence

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Looking up, Blu (as he was known to some) was almost happy to see the canopy above his head, sheltering the dry ground beneath shadows of the trees.

After escaping the hares and badger, the rain vanished almost instantly, the powerful downpour that had been battering the landscape for hours finally giving way to a dark sky, and stars.

Finding a small cave-like place in the hollow of a tree, he decided to rest. Taking a multi-hued green and brown blanket he had stolen to match the scenery of the forest he was supposed to find, he draped it over himself, and shut his eyes, wary to any unusual sounds.

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Just a bitbeyond the trees Blu was resting in, over to the west a point, a cloud scuttling across the sky revealed the tiny sliver of the moon, its dim light reflecting off a pond within red sandstone walls. In the orchard near the pond, containing trees baring all kinds of different fruits, two creatures walked slowly towards the pond, on their usual after-sunset stroll.

The shorter of the two, a young female squirrel, suddenly jumped into a nearby apple tree, russet fur shining in the faint light. Her eyes, a beautiful amber color, roved down to the taller, yet obviously stronger and older creature below her as she settled into her usual spot above the pond, laying down comfortably on the bough.

The other creature waded carefully into the pond, happy to be back in the water again. As the water reached his waist, he dived down, hardly making a splash, and came back up, just as silent. Blowing water from his whiskers, he looked up at his closest friend since entering the abbey. He smiled, the bluish tinted scar on his cheek, the one that just didn't heal properly, very visible.

"You happy now Blu?" Asked the squirrel, feigning boredom.

The otter frowned, deep brown eyes flashing anger then sadness before going placid again.

"You know I don't go by 'Blu,' Amset."

"Fine. Are you happy NOW, Bluskar?"

A melancholy smile flashed on his features, remembering the one reason he refused to be called Blu.

"Yeah."

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"_Kill 'im Blu! 'E's no real father! A real father wouldn't let 'is youngest son be exiled!" Whispered a burly-looking fox about 15 seasons._

"_I know." Blu whispered back, staring at the elder otter lying on the ground at his feet._

"_You're goin' soft on me."  
_"_I ain't!"  
_"_Then kill him."  
_"…_."  
_"_Why?"  
_"_I just… can't."_

"_Don't ye worry, Blulightnin." Came another voice, a bit louder, though able to make your skin crawl and make you want to attack whoever owned it. "Ye all shall meet in good time, or my name isn't…"_

Blu gasped, wide-awake now. He sat up, looking around, unable to remember his surroundings for a moment. He sighed, remembering the conversation with Kilna, and his mom…

That vixen.

Blulightnin remembered her clearly. Her eye patch and cloth covering the half of her face that was nearly burned off in a mysterious fire. Her strange way of speaking in riddles and rhymes. Her ability to know everything about you and your past by just looking at you with that all-seeing (or un-seeing) eye beneath the patch.

He didn't remember the day they met near as clearly. Though he did remember what happened to get him to her cave.

F

"_By 'ellgates, 'e's dead!"  
_"_You killed him!"  
_"_It was Blu! That boy was always after Ridgo!"_

_A 14 season old Blu stood, head high, in front of the tribe's leader, and others of importance, without his father beside him. The strong older otter sat, head down, outside the cave along the rocky northeast. "Blulightnin." The leader said to the others seated in driftwood chairs in front of the bound young otter. "They said he killed his older brother, and wounded his friends."  
_"_How many friends?"  
_"_3."  
_"_The three we had to see earlier? Did you see those wounds? Those slashes across their bodies, what caused them?"  
_"_A dirk."  
_"_Have they found it?"_

"_I have the dirk."_

_All eyes went to the young otter, eyes blazing and **smiling **at them. "I killed him, yes. Would've killed them all. Lemme see 'em and I will!"_

"_Blu, what happened? You used to be so good."_

_The insane-looking otter's face blanked. All insanity, and all hope, and all emotion left him that moment. His eyes hardened like a captured prisoner, accepting the horrors that awaited him like a doll, unsmiling, but impassive._

"_Good? Ha! You never knew me! You lot always thought I was such an innocent young creature. Idiots! I set fire to your seaweed beds, not Shepine! I near drowned Wissa, 'twas no accident! I set that fox free, after you locked him up. My only matey, he was. He saw what you don't... I'm not like you."_

"_But you're not like him! He's a vermin!"_

"_Maybe I am too."_

_Silence. And more silence. Then, "He's worst than a traitor. Worst than vermin. Kill him."_

_Shouts from a crowd outside echoed throughout the cave.  
_"_Tie him to a rock an' drop 'im off the cliffs!"  
"Git our strongest swimmersto drown him like 'e almost did Wissa!"  
_"_Strap the menace to **his** bed and set it on fire!"  
_"_Make 'im row until his arms fall off, and then chuck 'em overboard!"  
_"_Send him to hellgates where he belongs!"_

_A wild cheer followed the last statement, before the otters in the cave slapped their tails on the ground in unity._

"_All those are not enough for such deeds." Called the eldest of the otters on the 'jury.' "He no longer has a place with goodbeasts. Let him walk the earth, knowing he belongs to neither the vermin kind nor our kind. Let him roam this land until his lonely death."_

_Another cheer._

F

He growled. 'Should've killed the other three. Well, got my revenge.' He smirked, remembering two seasons after being 'banished' from there. The flames, and screams, the smell of smoke, and the taste of ash. Those that managed to escape that night dealt with his blade.

Instinctively, he reached into his pack and took out the dirk. The same dirk that killed his 'mates.' He frowned at it. It had let one go, let one survive. The only one he couldn't kill, even with the one-eyed vixens son, Kilna.

His father. Bluskar.

He clutched the handle tighter. 'Damn him. I killed mum, that old hag, like nothing. She loved Ridgo,'

He snorted at himself. What was he saying? **Everyone** loved Ridgo. 'S'not like she thought twice about letting me leave after I killed him.' Blu smirked.

No one even knew why he had killed Ridgo. Except he himself, and his brother….

F

"_What's wrong with you?" Yelled a furious, not to even mention brawny, looking otter, about the same size as his 2-and-a-half-seasons younger brother (Who was still going through growth spurts). They stood face to face, 5 paw steps between them._

"_You knew I liked her! **You knew it!**" Blu yelled, turning around, walking away from his brother and turning around. "And she pro'aly liked me too, before you t'go over there with yore 'Y'know my li'l brother…' stories! Now she knows everythin' 'bout me, when I was supposed t'tell her!"_

_**"She needed to know!** You're not goin' t'tell her 'bout the time you nearly drowned Wissa at the beach! Or the time I had to catch that Killika, or wha'ever, fox you let free!" The brother yelled back, as Blu stepped closer, lowering his voice as he grasped the dirk he concealed under his tunic._

_"Yore right. I wouldnt've told her. And y'know what? I would have killed Wissa too, an' made it look like an accident. She was never of any use anyway. Always whinin' 'bout something or another. And KILNA is the best friend I ever had. A better friend than any of the ones you have! Huh, they couldn't help you if we ever went to war or nothin'. Hope we do have war! Then I'd join the other side and get outta here. Not like anyone could care, eh?"_

_Ridgo, 16 going on 25, stared at his younger brother, and probably would have cried if he hadn't been so shocked. "Yore a monster." He finally managed. "Never let you near Dalana again. You don't deserve her. Pro'aly kill her, wouldn't you?"_

_Not believing what he was hearing, Blu stared at his brother. 'Kill Dalana? Don't he know that I practically stalk her when I can? Doesn't he know that _he_ could never give her what I can? She hates this village, and I can get her out of here, _and_ raise kids safely. He needs this dump!' He glared, his rain-cloud gray eyes meeting his brother's honey-brown orbs that normally looked so bright and golden, though now they were dark._

"_I knew it. You were right when ya said you weren't supposed to be an otter. No. You should've been a fox, sly, evil, and deceitful. Like Killya. Or maybe a ferret, considering you're so skinny and stupid looking. A vermin in disguise, that's what you are. A no-good, murdering, lying little…."_

_"_**SHUT UP!** _I've had enough of you! You wanna settle this here and now? Then come on! I'm right here." He stood up straight, barely even 20 paw steps from his brother, his dirk hidden behind his back._

_His brother charged, and…_

And the rest, they say, is history.

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Okay, first off… reviews!

Vanilla Breeze: Yaaaay! My first review! –dances around- Yes, somehow I left out the 'fur' on that sentence. And on a par with Brian Jacques? You're making my head go big. Very encouraging, thank you so much!

Eroket: Thanks, here's more!

Okay, I know, its short. But do you want it or not? Yes, I know someone other than Vanilla and Eroket had to read the first chapter. You non-reviewers, I know you're out there, 'cause I can see you. Yes you! 'Cause the more you review, the better I feel, and the faster this gets out! So review!

Please?


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